R. Madhavan reveals how director N. Lingusamy’s vision for the famous subway action scene in ‘Run’ convinced him to sign the film and transformed his career image.
R. Madhavan is widely remembered as the ultimate romantic hero of the early 2000s, but one unexpected action scene completely changed how audiences viewed him. In a recent interview with The Hindu, the actor opened up about how the 2002 Tamil hit Run became a major turning point in his acting career.
Before the film came out, people mostly saw him as a soft-spoken lead, but Run proved that he could pull off high-intensity action just as easily as romance. Madhavan revealed that one specific scene in the movie was so powerful that it convinced him to sign the project on the spot. That game-changing moment was the famous subway fight sequence, which remains a favorite among fans even today.
Madhavan shared that director N. Lingusamy had a super clear vision for the action right from the start. During their very first meeting, the director described the fight scene word-for-word, telling him that when his character hits the villain, the guy would fall to the ground instantly. When the RHTDM actor heard that description, he knew that if audiences believed his character Shiva could hit like that, the movie would be a massive box-office hit.
Interestingly, Madhavan admitted that he has never taken any professional training for dance or action scenes throughout his career. While he deeply respects young actors who train hard in martial arts today, he always prefers picking up movements directly on set.
For the subway scene, he gave full credit to stunt director Peter Hein and cinematographer Jeeva. The team actually built a massive subway set just so Jeeva could place the camera high up near the roof, capturing the exact top-down angle needed to make the punch look devastating.
The actor also shared a memorable detail about the stuntman who took the iconic hit. Even though there was no real physical contact, the stunt performer reacted so realistically that he hit the floor and stayed completely still without even twitching. Seeing that exact moment unfold through the monitor gave Madhavan goosebumps. He knew right then that there was a great chance people would accept him as an action hero.
Run, starring R. Madhavan and Meera Jasmine, revolves around a young man who defies all odds to win his love against her violent brother’s opposition. The film was later remade in Hindi under the same title Run (2004), featuring Abhishek Bachchan and Bhumika Chawla in the lead roles.
